Chapter One
Bane snapped his head to the side and glared at Owens. “What the fuck did you do?” he growled.
Jasper Owens looked up at him with an evil smile on his face.
His eyes however were cold. “I did what I had to do. His name was on my list. But don’t worry, you won’t know when my men come for you either.
You’ll just disappear just like Shay and Stone have.
” He shook his head. “You can’t help them now, they’re gone and you’ll never find them.
” Then he chuckled. “You’ll never find them cause there’s nothing left to find.
They’re just gone. And good riddance too. ”
Bane reached out and grabbed him by the throat. His fingers tightened as he didn’t show his rage on his face just in his actions. He raised him up from the floor.
James watched and slowly raised his head to follow the man’s body rising.
All the other men leaned their heads back and did that as well.
Jasper wanted to scream but his hands were tied behind his back and no one was stopping Bane. Jasper was beginning to fade as he struggled to get any air. Then he went limp when Bane dropped him on the floor.
Sam shook his head. “Well, that was dramatic as all fuck.”
Bane looked up at him. “He’s still alive, isn’t he? So, what was Shay’s last known contact?”
“Just about forty miles from this location actually,” Sam replied as he looked down at his phone.
Bane nodded. “Then this is what we’ll do.
” He looked over at Charlie and Jasper. “I’ll take these two back to the old place and put them on ice.
You guys spread out between here and the last contact of Shay and Stone.
Go in quickly and quietly. I’ll join you when these two are locked down.
Find them, even if they are no longer alive, you find them. ”
“Damn right we will.” Sam snarled.
“Fuck, this cannot be true,” Deke said.
“Yeah, a world without Pappy and Shay? Fuck that,” Sam grumbled.
“The world will be a more dangerous place for sure,” James stated. “Those two poked holes in many a criminal’s empire. Mostly as soldiers but they did the bad guys some real damage. America has been safer because of those two.”
“Well, I for one, will not be the one to give their wives the news. Nope.” Sam shook his head.
Bane paused as he looked distracted. “You find who brought them down and what method they used. That might lead us to the attacker and I want them too. This isn’t over until the fat lady sings and we’ll round up all of Jasper’s fat ladies.
He’s suddenly going to be the hottest rat in the den. I’ll make sure about that.”
“You got a place to put them?” Deke suddenly asked.
Bane smiled. “Yeah, I got a place. One that they can’t get out of.”
Deke looked at Sam, Mountain and finally Hound. He just shook his head then grabbed his weapon and left the room. The others followed.
Now it was just him and James standing there.
Charlie for once, didn’t say a word. He’d read the coldness in Bane’s eyes and he decided not to draw attention to himself. Bane could easily kill him and he knew it.
James yanked him up by the collar and Charlie growled at him but James paid him no mind.
Bane grabbed Jasper up under the arms and dragged him out of the house.
They dumped both men into the back of the SUV.
When Bane got behind the wheel, James was already contacting Excaliber and asked her what info she had on Shay’s helicopter going down.
When they got back to Bane’s house, Jasper was awake and Bane could see he was breathing just fine. The bruises on his throat made it hard for the other man to swallow but Bane wasn’t worried about his breathing. He was still alive and that’s all that mattered right now.
He grabbed them by the collars and dragged them into the foyer when James came up last he looked at the two men and asked, “Ok, what are you going to do with them?” James asked.
Bane smiled but the glee never met his eyes. “I’m going to show them the playroom.”
James shook his head. “I’m not sure I want to know.”
“Good answer James but you have no choice, come along.” Bane grabbed up the two men and dragged them toward the hidden staircase that went under the main staircase. He had to use a key to open the door, then he turned on a light that lit up a hidden stairway down to the basement.
Jasper tried to fight by Bane slapped him upside the head and growled, “Move asshole. Or I’ll throw you down the stairs and it’s a long staircase.”
Jasper swallowed hard but moved for the stairs.
James motioned for Charlie to follow. And he moved hesitantly toward the stairs.
When they reached the bottom they saw three rooms. All three had heavy metal doors and serious looking locks.
Bane motioned them toward the middle door. He grabbed an old brass key from the shelf and the lock turned hard but the door finally opened.
The inside of the room looked stark. Metal walls surrounded the four walls and a strange groove ran along the floor.
Bane reached inside and snapped on the light switch. Then he pushed Jasper into the room. He stumbled into the vacant space and turned to face him. “You can’t just leave us here. It’s inhuman.”
Bane shook his head and tossed Charlie into the room. The other fell to the floor as they were both still tied up. He screamed as his shoulder hit the metal floor. He turned over and laid on his back on the cold floor. “So now what?” Charlie cried out. You just gonna leave us locked up down here?”
Bane stood back and smiled but again his eyes were cold and unfeeling.
“Yeah gentlemen, we’re just gonna leave you here.
” He looked around and his lips curled into what passed for a smile.
“This room was my grandfather’s dungeon when he needed a place to stash people for a few days.
Actually, he built it for one purpose, to torture some very bad people.
There’s a small camera in the far corner and he used to watch the people he brought here.
He loved to hear them scream which I thought was unusually cruel but the more I think about it, the more I’m beginning to think that approach was just a little quirk he had.
Anyway, it’s going to come in handy for the pair of you guys. ”
Jasper frowned. “Why were the men he put here screaming? That doesn’t make any sense.”
Bane grinned. “Oh, you’ll find that out. You see, my grandfather had a special system in place. And you’ll find that out as well. “Have a good night, gentlemen.” He stepped back and slammed the door shut.
The lock clicked... the sound seemed to echo in the metal room and the hallway.
James turned and followed Bane back to the stairs. “Your granddad had a playroom?”
Bane turned and nodded. “Yeah, he used it sparingly but he did use it.”
James paused then glanced back at the room for a few seconds before he stepped on the staircase going up. “Looked like an empty room to me.”
Bane looked at James and said, “I told you he used to watch his victims right?”
James nodded. “What I didn’t tell you was my granddad was a master of torture. That room is his masterpiece of torture. After the light is left on for so long the walls in that room begin to shift. Did you happen to notice how the light was located a few feet toward the far wall?”
James paused then nodded slowly.
Bane grinned. “The left wall will creep toward the right wall and when the light is crushed the wall will stop. But by the time it does crush the light switch the men inside that room will believe the wall will keep on closing until they are crushed too.”
James just stood there and stared at him for a long moment then he shook his head. “Your granddad was diabolical.”
Bane smiled faintly. “He was a master and he taught me everything he knew. That wall will stop moving and those two men will only have about eighteen inches of space left. When the wall does stop and they are left in the dark, they won’t know if the wall has stopped for good or if it will start up again.
They will probably piss their pants and pray to a god they never believed in before that the wall stops.
But we can watch those tapes later. Right now, we have to join the rest of the guys and find Shay and Stone.
” He slapped James’ arm and said, “Come on, we gotta catch up with the others.”
James stomped up the stairs after him and when they reached the top of the stairs he asked, “Just how the hell are we gonna catch up to them? We don’t know where they went.”
Bane closed the door that hid the staircase and shook his head. “James, James, James. After all this time and all that we have seen together, you have no faith in me?”
James stared at him for a moment then asked, “What did you do?”
Bane gave him a huge grin.